Tuesday, December 23, 2008

If you are totally ready for Christmas, please do not share that information with me. I'll only get jealous and then get mad and I guarantee that it will not be pretty.

Yesterday I made chocolate peanut butter cups. These are delicious and so simple you can't believe it. The hardest part is putting the little cups out. Well, this year, FINDING the cups was the hard part. Our local craft store did not have them and told me that the company they buy from doesn't make them anymore.

Yeah, right.

I came home and found the company online and then ordered about 500 of them. I don't like the bigger cups because then each one is more than a mouthful. I like the smaller cups.

Take 2.5 pounds of chocolate (I use coating chocolate from Wal*Mart.) Melt it in the microwave on 50% power. That takes about 10 minutes total, based on the wattage of your microwave.

Stir in an 18 oz. jar of peanut butter. I always use plain, but you can use crunchy if you prefer.

Once it's all stirred together, put it in a squeeze bottle of some type and fill the cups. Refrigerate them until they're hard (about 20 minutes) and then put them in a container. They freeze really well. I was able to get 98 cups filled.

Then I took more chocolate and melted it in the microwave. I tossed in sourdough pretzel nuggets, stirred them in, then put them on the parchment paper to set up.

I still have some chocolate, so I may melt it and mix in peanuts. I'll have to see how things go.

This morning I cleaned out the refrigerator. I have a chicken cooking on the stove right now because I need good chicken stock for wedding soup that we'll be having on Christmas Day. We're also having roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, etc. I'll be cooking that, in addition to baking a couple of pecan pies.

And...I haven't started baking any cookies yet.

Twelve people on Christmas Day with no cookies. That wouldn't be good.

There are a bunch of decorations on the kitchen table and they need to be dispersed. The den (wrapping headquarters) is a mess and needs cleaned. By tomorrow night, the kitchen floor will need to be mopped...and that means not only the kitchen, but the dining area, the mudroom, the half bath, and the hallway that leads back to the pantry and laundry room.

Not to mention that all the bathrooms need to be cleaned tomorrow evening too. (I live with three men, and at least one of them has poor aim. Need I say more?)

BUT...the gifts are all wrapped and the cards were sent out last week, so at least a couple of things are done.

My gifts are almost wrapped (I have about 10 more to do.) My cards never went out (even after I worked so hard on getting a beautiful photo of the kids for it.) My house is a disaster (that's what I'm working on right now.) So no...I am completely not ready for Christmas yet. Does that make you feel better? :)

I can't even tell you how much I love peanut butter and chocolate together. I am going to find those little cups so that I can make them next year. YUMMY!

Well, you're ahead of me on the card front. Our baking will happen tonight. My dd wants to make buckeyes. So against my better judgement I bought the ingredients for those -- and oatmeal chocolate chip craisin cookies and snickerdoodles. Then all those ingredients and I sat in the car for 2+ hours trying to get home in an ice storm. If it weren't for Christmas Eve Mass, I wouldn't leave the house again until Saturday.

I remember those days when the grandkids lived in this town. I had them come over while their parents shopped and we made and frosted many cookies and they got to take a plateful home each. I also always made fudge and popcorn balls and several other types of goodies. Now, no one comes so I go visit a shut-in instead. Count your blessings that your family is close by.